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Xarcadia is a perfect world in many ways. There is no war, no poverty, no struggle by its inhabitants to simply live. The world is remarkably static, even in its rotation: by performing an impossible twist in its rotation, Xarcadia doesn’t even have seasons. The people live in harmony and peace, never descending into warfare – even the largest struggles on Xarcadia can be solved by a few determined people with a goal. Why is this? How did Xarcadia become this paradise of peace and magic?

The answer is simple: It was designed that way.

Untold eons ago, before there was anything, the creators were. They were a group of beings beyond comprehension, whose existed in the infinite void of space, alone and incomparable. These beings drifted together, bored and aloof, looking for new forms of entertainment. Sadly the universe proved less than ideal for their tastes: aside from the infinite number of lifeless worlds that did not entertain with their geology, worlds that did have life were painful places. This displeased the creators, who enjoyed watching the noble struggle of heroes and did not care for bloody warfare, starvation, and strife. Sometimes they used their powers to enrich the lives of planets they came across, but every time their meddling only magnified the problems as greedy tyrants moved to take control over the new resources.

It was decided: they would make their own world from scratch, and eliminate the social strife that plagued other worlds. They would take a little from each world they liked the best: the magic, the mystery, the chance for normal people to become heroes.

The creators soon staked out their claim and began world on a world that would be as perfect and entertaining as possible. They literally put pieces of themselves into the world, creating progeny begins who could be trusted to perform the more menial tasks of world creation while they focused on the larger picture. In time, the world grew and become more tangible. Life grew, nations were founded, and the magic flowed. It flowed a little more than the creators expected.

As millennia passed, the creators discovered that making this world had weakened them. The magic the world fed on was them, their essences, and the more they worked upon the world, the weaker they would become. New gods were rising up, powered by the beliefs of mortals, who in turn were developing their own magical powers; whenever magic flowed on Xarcadia, it came from its original creators. Unsure of what to do, the creators came up with a plan: they would finally step back from their creation and let it run itself. Their final action was creating the system of portals and Keys, so that their burgeoning world could be thrust into a new era without direct influence. They receded, shrunken, but proud of their accomplishment.

These gods still exist as entities who observe but refuse to interact with the world of Xarcadia as they are. Few realize that these entities even exist; the only ones who are conscious of the truth of Xarcadia’s creation are the great zonal gods, who have been sworn to secrecy. It’s not impossible to find a Xarcadian-written history of the creators from when they were still a part of the world; still, the lore is so old, so obscure, and so rare that to do so would require a herculean effort. The creators have gone to every length to ensure that their secrecy will be maintained for as long as they see fit. They worry that, being so diminished, their own world might turn against them. In their weakened state, they are still the most powerful singular beings anywhere in the world; however, if Xarcadia were to work together to defeat them, they would be helpless.

The creators hope that one day, Xarcadia will become mature enough to spawn off gods who will take their own treks to the void of space and create their own worlds. In time, Xarcadia may become the progenitor of billions of peaceful, magical worlds. For now, all they want to do is watch.

Xarcadia has a unique orbit around its sun: As it rotates around the star, and as the planet itself spins, the axial tilt of Xarcadia shifts itself as well to ensure that the North pole is always pointed towards the star and the South pole is always pointed away. This means Xarcadia has distinct climate zones, but no seasons.

Without any seasons, the weather in each zone is relatively static from day to day. Rainy zones will be rainy ceaselessly; dry, arid zones will almost never experience rainfall. This also means that the North-most zones never experience night, and the South-most zones never experience day. Life in these most extreme zones can be challenging, but not impossible; in fact, some of the most popular districts of Cosmopolis are built below the perpetual night line in order to enjoy nightlife that never ends.

Magical weather is the source of most major weather-related disasters. When intense magical energy builds up in the atmosphere, it will express itself in any way it can. This mostly only results in intense aurorae, but sometimes impossible weather will occur that can put the inhabitants of a zone in serious danger. A peaceful day can be replaced with hurricane-level downpours that rain drops of blood instead of water; Xarcadians grow sick, crops wither, and buildings are destroyed. Lightning storms form that are so powerful a single lightning bolt destroys the top levels of a massive Cosmopolian skyscraper, sending flaming debris to the ground. Powerful weathermancers are a must in highly populated areas, lest thousands of people be killed in a terrifying magical storm.

With a world as large as Xarcadia, communication is key to maintaining order. The best way to accomplish this is through the use of enchanted mirrors designed to transmit sounds and images to each other. The spell to enchant any mirror to become a device to communicate with others is simple, commonly distributed, and ubiquitous in any Xarcadian home. A small compact mirror can be kept in a pocket for quick calls; a larger mirror can be used to provide a larger picture, and some people have mirrors so large as to take up a substantial amount of a wall.

With the popularity of mirrors as communication devices, some people have began to transmit information to multiple mirrors at once as a way to share entertainment and information. By tuning your mirror to a specific “telorama” frequency, a person can watch a play, listen to music, or learn the results of popular sports all from the comfort of their own home. A few enterprising magicians have even begun to enchant mirrors to communicate with each other in a system they call the “notice board system”. By using a central Server enchanted to both receive and transmit messages, mirrors can communicate with each other and send their own information to be received by each other. Few telemancers are connected to this network now, but it’s growing every day and is poised to displace the telorama as the next big thing in Xarcadian communication.

On Xarcadia, the most common way to get around is under your own power. Personal transportation is rare; for longer distances solo, a riding animal is your best bet. Fortunately, due to the system of portals, walking to distant locations is feasible as long as the portal itself is close to your home.

Magic allows for a great variety of public transportation systems. Trains are the most common method, being powered by bound non-sentient elementals to power steam engines. The discovery of steam power is a relatively new invention, but it has been rapidly implemented across all of Xarcadia. Simpler, but costlier, is using magic to move a wheeled object directly. A few personal carriages are owned by particularly well-off enchanters, but most people rely on omnibuses that float on air elementals for a smooth ride to somewhat distant areas. The most distant travel is also powered by air elementals: airships. It is slow, but the airships are loaded with amenities that train or omnibus travel cannot reasonably possess.

With the use of a multitude of air elementals, travel through space is possible. Few airships are able to make the journey, almost all of them are owned by the largest trading conglomerates, and the asking price to get a seat on them for casual travel is high; regardless, the allure of space travel is so tempting that the spacelines will regularly sell out all of their seats within hours of listing new tickets.

Magic can also be used to aid the disabled who cannot walk under their own power. A Server can be designed that is large enough for a person to sit in; this Server can then be controlled by its rider to function as a wholly mobile hoverchair. Those who wish to use their legs can opt for magical prosthetics and harnesses, allowing the legs to move with the help of magic. Magical prosthetics can be used for much more than just mobility as well: they can be used to augment a blind eye, or enhance a deafened ear.

Every Xarcadian is an artist in their own way. Without the outside pressures of capital to force a lifestyle focused around work, the people are free to create the inner desires of their soul as they see fit. Most artists are amateurs, doing their art only to share with the people in their immediate community or just for themselves. Access to art making materials, be it paints, musical instruments, or materials for sculpture, is almost universal and kept in common by most people. The arts are respected as the highest form of expression across all of Xarcadia and artistry is encouraged by all.

Artistic get-togethers are one of the most popular social events and are a fantastic excuse to host artistic competitions. Within a time limit, a few hours at most, local artists are challenged to create the most moving work of art within their discipline and are judged on their accomplishment. To ensure fairness and to reward only those interested in the art itself, the prizes are always something totally worthless: a single flower, a piece of fruit, or a particularly interesting rock.

In Cosmopolis, art is a kind of commodity that can be used to make a living. Many people write stories, play music, and create visual art that can be traded and sold to make a living. These mass-market works of art are repackaged and distributed through Xarcadia by trade caravans. Many people in rural communities look forward to the arrival of the caravans for the latest installment of their stories as much as the fresh food!

Xarcadian art deals with many topics, but the heroic epic is one that has lasted through the ages. Hero-worship is an idea that cannot be taken lightly; with enough belief after the death of a beloved champion, they may literally turn into a god! Art is a favored way to share the myths and legends of great gods, a practice with the gods encourage in order to cultivate more belief in them. Some of the more powerful gods are artistic celebrities in their own right, performing in plays and creating their own otherworldly music for their followers.

A Xarcadian’s daily carry is highly based upon their needs specific to where they live. Most Xarcadians own an enchanted purse for carrying their Coins in; due to the special properties of Plastik, the Coins can be shrunken down via magic to be more easily carryable. This process works for non-Coin items as well, a magical property that gives Plastik its innate value.

In rural zones, the threat of beast or Shadow attack is high. People must be constantly armed in case of random attack. It is unthinkable to go past the boundaries of your village without a sword, a wand, or a few pieces of armor. In the event of a Shadow attack, an enchanted weapon is even more essential. Wearing a well-used sword on your belt is a sign to others that you are willing to protect them in danger, and that you are going to put your life on the line if it comes to that.

Cosmopolians do not have to worry about outside threats anywhere near as much as rural Xarcadians and do not carry weapons on them. To do so is seen as tacky and frightening; there is little threat of being attacked on the streets, so why bring a weapon with you everywhere? Instead most Cosmopolians carry compact enchanted mirrors to communicate with each other. Where as rural Xarcadians will see their friends in person most every day, living in Cosmopolis necessitates much travel; to keep in touch, networked magic mirrors allow for face-to-face communication every day.

Much of Xarcadia is still unexplored and uninhabited. Xarcadia is a massive world – more than four times the size of the planet Earth – and the reliance on the established portal network means that getting to the more distant areas is a serious struggle. There may be whole continents that are simply uninhabited, life never having achieved sentience within its borders.

The discovery of new Keys is the best way to explore new areas on Xarcadia. There is no way to know where the portal created by a new Key will take you until it is made. The portal could manifest a few blocks away from your home, or it could take you to a previously unknown planet well beyond the limits of Xarcadia – there’s only one way to find out. The need for new portals is so high that trading conglomerates will pay thousands of Coins for the discovery of new Keys, just to be the first to send trading caravans to new places.

When a new and totally unexplored region is discovered, Xarcadians are very careful to investigate the surroundings before attempting to form a settlement. If there are any Xarcadians already living in that space, they will be left to their own devices until they wish to associate with the greater world. If the land appears to be totally uninhabited, a colony will be established and a new generation of civilization will attempt to take root.

The Xarcadian sky is much like Earth’s – blue, cloudy, and with a large central sun. The effects of magic upon the world can cause for interesting effects; on clear nights, large aurorae can be seen streaking across the sky, the effect of magical radiation interacting with the atmosphere. Optical phenomena are more common on Xarcadia in general. Large sun dogs, tremendous quadruple rainbows, and iridescent clouds are almost daily events that bear little importance to the Xarcadian on the street. At night, the common belief in certain constellations has caused literal lines to form between the visible stars, drawing them out for all to see.

Due to the unique rotation of Xarcadia, the night sky can be radically different depending on where you are. In the north, where night never falls, the sun can only skirt the horizon and the stars never become visible. The opposite is true in the south, where the sun never rises and brilliant night skies are always on display. In the equatorial zones, stunning sunsets and sunrises occur at intervals so consistent you could set a watch to them.

In certain zones, the sky is so unusual that only magic can explain its appearance. Some zones that can only be accessed by portals – so called “bonus zones” – have skies that can be brightly toned hues of the rainbow, or a repeating image pattern. During intense magical storms, clouds can warp, twist, and mold themselves into impossible shapes or the appearance of soon-to-be-born gods. Sometimes the sky will turn into night in an instant, displaying new constellations never seen before, then turn back into daytime just as quickly.

As most labor on Xarcadia is automated, there is very little “work” that is left to be done. Most essential work is left to magicians, who in turn enchant objects to carry the tasks out automatically. This gives the average Xarcadian a tremendous amount of free time, allowing them to work on more creative endeavors. Aside from doing it simply for pleasure, a Xarcadian looking to scrounge up a few extra Coins might turn to selling artistic works for their day job.

Fiction is one of the most common ways a Xarcadian might part with their money. Authors of popular novel series can live comfortably off of their work and develop a substantial fan base as well. Painters and other artists could be convinced to part with their original paintings for a price. Musicians will gladly agree to perform in almost any venue if the price is right.

One of the few kinds of labor that has not been fully automated is the process of trade between zones. Managing and directing these trade caravans is a difficult business: although the wagons are automated, they still require guards and drivers to ensure the cargo safely makes it to its intended destination. The enterprising young warrior would do well to join up with a caravan guard to train their skills.

The trading conglomerates express some of the greatest powers across all of Xarcadian. Noble families, claiming to descent from the original founders of Cosmopolis, rule these conglomerates and express a great deal of influence across large stretches of land. Thanks to the strong unionist mindset of Xarcadians, these conglomerates can be prevented from expressing too much power over the world, but their impact is undeniable.

Almost all labor on Xarcadia is automated, giving the common person a great deal of free time to enjoy themselves. Consequently, a much larger number of Xarcadians are trained in the arts compared to people on Earth. A majority of people would have some passing familiarity with a musical instrument and would very likely know how to play more than one. Drawing is a similarly popular pastime; the demand for painting supplies is constantly high.

The acting arts are tremendously popular and virtually every community will set aside time to perform plays. Playwrights are the Xarcadian ultra-star class; a particularly well known author of plays will have their name spoken across the entire world. Joining up with a touring vaudeville revue are a great way for a young and eager Xarcadian to see the world and meet new people.

Musicians are similarly cherished. What could be described as “folk music” is the most popular genre of Xarcadian song; one person, one instrument, and one story to be told plucks the Xarcadian heartstrings in a certain way. Larger ensembles are reserved for group dancing events. No festival is complete without an enormous group dance, with dozens of people jumping and stomping the earth in unison to the most thumping folk-dance music you could ever hope to hear.

A recent invention is a magical means of transmitting images and sounds across displays, allowing for the broadcast of plays and music across all of Xarcadia. These “teloramas”, as they are known, are common enchanted mirrors housed within special receiver frames. A few ambitious theatre studios in Cosmopolis have begun producing media just for the telorama, the medium allowing for serialized dramas that would not be possible on the stage.

Another popular broadcast for the telorama are live sports. Kick-ball is the most widely watched sport: ostensibly about getting a ball from one side of the field to another only through kicking, the matches tend to devolve into bloody riots between the two teams trying to hold possession of the ball. Also popular are the broadcast of boardgames. The Interzonal Pebbleboard Tournament is one of the most watched broadcasts across Xarcadia – and one of the most popular events for gambling upon.